Makerbot presented their new software innovation that enables you to minimize and optimize the infill to save time and material. It can reduce material and time for some 30%. You will lose some structural integrity, but it is aimed at prototyping applications.

Now you can bring your ideas to life faster for less with this major breakthrough in MakerBot Print. We’re proud to introduce MakerBot MinFill, a dynamic new Print Mode that is the first of its kind in 3D printing. Short for “Minimum Infill,” MinFill uses an intelligent algorithm to determine the absolute minimum amount of support needed for the inside of any 3D print.

As we’ve learned from professional users, not all prints need to be durable, dense, or heavy. When surface quality and print speed are more important, MinFill is a far more efficient option — especially for prints with a large internal volume.Based on our testing, MinFill typically prints 30% faster using 30% less filament. With especially voluminous models, like spheres, we’ve seen MinFill print up to 80% faster. For professionals, that means faster early concept modeling, faster form studies, and more iterations in less time.

MinFill’s Benefits at a Glance

Professionals can accelerate early concept modeling, form studies, and iterations.

Educators can serve more students and classrooms while saving time and money.

Based on our testing, MinFill typically prints 30% faster using 30% less filament.*

The greater the internal volume of your print, the more time and money you save.

Mar 22, 2017

Here is a great example on how simple 3d printers are being used by scientists to make low cost specialist equipment in field of chemistry.

Team of researchers form University of Helsinki used 3d printers to develop a chemical microreactor.

Gianmario Scotti, one of the researchers, published this video and the description:

In this video abstract we present a 3D printed polypropylene microreactor with an integrated stirring bar and nano-electrospray needle.

The nano-ESI needle is the ion source of our microreactor, and is used to couple it directly to a mass spectrometer. The microreactor is used to analyse chemical reactions with the mass spectrometer. The reaction is analysed as it happens.

We used polypropylene to 3D print the microreactor, because polypropylene is a very refractory polymer in the sense that it is neither affected by strong acids or alkaline solutions, nor by the great majority of solvents used in chemical synthesis.

This is the first 3D printed microreactor with an integrated ion source. It is also the first 3D printed microreactor with an integrated stir bar. These enable us to monitor the chemical reactions in real time.

Joe Mike Terranella published a video tutorial on how to change your direct feed extruder system into a Bowden 3D printer. He used his Hictop Prusa clone to change it from direct feed to a Bowden setup but you can see many useful tips that can be used for other machines also.

Here is the full tutorial video:

Full parts list is on the video description but he used this Bowden conversion thing:

Mar 15, 2017

If you want to expand your home manufacturing arsenal, here is a very useful machine that will enable you to make hollow objects from various types of resin.
This machine is easy and cheap to make from 3d printed parts and 15mm MDF sheets cut on a CNC machine. It was published on Instructables by Jorge Dorantes.
It is hand cranked, but it could probably be easy modified to run with a simple electrical motor.

If you are not sure how this machine works, here is a demonstration video of a different rotational casting machine by TGS Props where they use two piece silicone mold and Smoothcast 65D resin to make, well ... raptor / alien eggs!

Mar 11, 2017

Angus from Maker's Muse YT channel 3d printed this big and rugged robotic rover for off-road driving. It looks really great and can run for over an hour on LiPo batteries which drive 4 cordless drill geared motors!

Sure, it is a sort of promotion for Polymaker PC-Max filament but still it is very well executed project.

RoMaker from France developed and published the R-CNC mill plans. It is made from 3d printed parts and aluminum structure elements. It looks easy to make with well documented build instructions. The cost of it should be relatively affordable and cheap to make. Eletronics is based on Ramps 1.4

Other key features:

It also has 4 rubber pads at each angle, anti-vibration and anti scratch.

The electronics are integrated into the machine and it has a front USB port to connect a computer to the Ramps 1.4 if necessary without dismantling everything.

Clean installation thanks to dragchains

The pressure of all bearings on the square tubes is fully adjustable

Very high torque for Y moving thanks to a nema motor 23 multiplied by 3 with pulley 20×60 teeth

Integrated LED lighting

Easy mounting with printable drilling templates

Tested successfully on wood and plastic at 700mm / min and passes of 2mm, the measurements are perfect at 5 / 100th of mm, the diagonals of the squares are equal, the round ones are round!

Mar 9, 2017

While checking out new designs on Youmagine, I found a 3d printable copy of vintage omnidirectional Harman Kardon HK-25 loudspeakers. Each speaker consists of a top and bottom part. The bottom is designed to hold a 50mm "metallic" driver speaker that can be found in many cheap "iPod" speaker docks.

Mar 7, 2017

Jon aka. Dr3vil used a parts form old Prusa Mendel and made a close chamber DIY laser cutter / engraver. He documented his project on Thingiverse.

Jon writes:

I wanted to add a laser cutter/engraver to my shop and decided it would make a good design challenge based on recycling a Prusa Mendel - Essentially a frame of 5/16” threaded rod and 8mm rod with LMU88 bearings. The CAD models had to be simple to print, make what you can, buy what you absolutely must, and source locally. Ultimately this project is a primer for building gen III of my 3D printer and a larger gen II laser of many watts. As such I’m sharing an ‘as-is’ , ‘it got me to operational’ dump of the project STL’s, sanding and part prep will be required.

Firmware is Marlin configured for CoreXY. It was helpful to set a dummy thermistor value as this allows using the print bead and hot-end outputs as switches from gcode (M104 S100 and M140 S100, send S0 to turn off). The fans and laser power supply are switched, as usual fan PWM modulates the laser through M106.

Gcode generation is either by Jtech Inkscape plugin or 305 Engineering’s raster generator. For engraving PCB’s I ended up modifying 305’s code, borrowing a page from Jtech. The first change was having laser off moves run at full speed, since acceleration is handled in firmware this shaves a lot of time off the job. The second change was to have a pause when turing the laser on or off as to allow the edges of the burn to be more defined, 200ms was enough. Finally adding pre and post geode safe the machine when done and get in position.

Peng Jin used NinjaFlex filament to produce flexible structures with memory effect that can be used for various applications from architecture to art.

Project description:

Taking advantage of the TPE (specially formulated thermoplastic elastomer), I did a series of study with my Printrbot Simple Metal, testing out both the limit of the material and the printer. Such as printing larger volume with a relatively smaller printer which could offer better accuracy, and print flexible material with bi-stable units to create shape-memory structure. I applied all the ideas from these studies to my architecture design afterwards, creating products and spaces with flexibility and adaptability, as wells as new ways of interaction between human and product, even more, between individuals with these potential produces.

Here is an interesting talk on how to design and develop your own 3d printer. You must watch it if you are interested in a process since it is very informative.

Talk summary:

Diego Porqueras invented the Bukobot and Bukito 3D printers. Bukobot’s wildly popular Kickstarter campaign raised four times the requested funds, helping Diego open a Southern California hackerspace store, Deezmaker.But how do you design a 3D printer? Where would you even start? In this talk, Diego discusses the hardware design space of 3D printers, associated software challenges, and the basics of 3D printer operation.

DajoM from Instructables published all the files and instructions needed to make a low cost DIY vacuumformer / thermoformer that fits on your desktop. You can use it to make plastic molds or patterns for production of larger series of objects.
It is made from laser cut plywood and uses ceramic plate for heating. Several parts are 3d printed.